Influence of collision energy and reagent vibrational excitation on the stereodynamics of the reaction H+LiH → H2+Li

Quasi-classical trajectory calculations have been carried out to investigate the stereodynamics of the reaction H + LiH -> H-2 + Li which proceeds on the ground electronic state of LiH2 system, using a recent potential energy surface of Prudente et al. The effects of collision energy and reagent vibrational excitation on the product polarization are studied for the v = 0-3, j = 0 states of LiH over a wide collision energy range. It has been found that the collision energy and the vibrational excitation of the reagent remarkably influence the four generalized polarization-dependent differential cross-sections, the distributions of P(theta(r)), P(phi(r)), and P(theta(r), phi(r)). The calculated results show that the rotational angular momentum j' of the product H-2 is not only aligned, but also oriented along the direction perpendicular to the scattering plane. The orientation of j' depends very sensitively on the collision energy and the vibrational excitation of the reagent. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.